France outlaws plastic utensils to reduce pollution
PARIS, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) — France has recently passed new laws to ban the use of plastic utensils and ordered that afterwards all dishware should be made of materials that can be composted.
According to France's RFI, the new laws are part of the Energy Transition for Green Growth plan which is due to take effect in 2020.
This new way to reduce pollution is gaining applause among green economy supporters, some of whom suggested the government enforce the law as early as in 2017, but plastic utensils producers are reasonably unhappy about it.
Pack2Go Europe, a Brussels-based organization that represents European packaging manufacturers, called the new measures "nonsense", The Independent reported.
"We are urging the European Commission to do the right thing and to take legal action against France for infringing upon European Law," Pack2Go Secretary-General Eamonn Bates said, accusing the French ban of violating the free move of goods within the European Union.
It's reported that French Environment Minister was not so decisive about the ban initially in fear that it might increase economic burden on lower-income families which usually consume more plastic tableware.
France has banned plastic shopping bags earlier this year and it's not the only country that announced fights against plastic goods.
Some states in the United States have banned the use of plastic shopping bags and in most parts of Britain the use of plastic bags requires extra cost.